Their fair share

Lady Hillbillies clinch piece of D-1 title

May 15, 2013

ALLEGANY - It might have taken much longer than expected to earn the clincher, but the Fredonia Lady Hillbillies are CCAA Division 1 co-champions for the first time since 2008.

Fredonia (11-3, 15-3) defeated the Allegany-Limestone Lady Gators, 12-0, Tuesday to finish a game that was suspended in the third inning due to weather last Friday. Fredonia shares the league crown with Olean as the Lady Huskies defeated Falconer in nine innings, 5-4, Tuesday.

Despite an emotional 2-1 win over rival Dunkirk on Monday, the Lady Hillbillies played like a team that held a 6-0 lead entering today's finish.

"That was one of the things we were worried about," Fredonia assistant coach Bob Sievert said. "We were worried about a little letdown and we just picked up where we left off (Monday)."

Baylee Tarnowski did the same in the circle for the Lady Hillbillies as she hurled a seven-hit shutout - the first of her career - and struck out five to earn the win.

"She pitched a really good game," Sievert said. "She gave up seven hits and no walks, which is how Baylee does it."

Fredonia scored early and often before the rains came Friday afternoon. After Maddie Crandall reached on a base hit, Alicia Deering knocked a two-run home run to give the road team a 2-0 lead in the first.

Crandall provided Fredonia with an offensive spark in the top of the second as well and provided another base hit. Nicole Szymczak put two runners on base with a single before Deering hit a two-RBI double. Bre Dahn added a two-run single to give the Lady Hillbillies a 6-0 lead.

Crandall went 5 for 5 at the plate with an RBI to lead Fredonia's offensive effort while Deering went 2-for-5 over two afternoons with a home run, a double and four RBI. Dahn added three hits and three RBI.

Mariah Monroe earned the loss for Allegany-Limestone after she allowed 14 hits, walked three and struck out two. Brandi Fuller hit two singles for the Lady Gators.

Fredonia is expected to grab a high seed in Class B when playoff seedings are announced Thursday.

"It was a very satisfying win," Sievert said. "We got one of the toughest leagues in western New York and to win a title is really great for the kids. You start working in March and you try to set some goals for yourself and it worked out really good for us."

Tuesday's finish marked the final regular season game for the Lady Hillbillies but Sievert didn't rule out adding a non-league game before the playoffs begin. It's still business as usual in practice for Joe Pucciarelli's team today and throughout the week.

"We're going to work (today)," Sievert said. "There's a lot of things we've got to work on. We've got the fundamental things we'd like to improve on to get better."

Dunkirk 5, Jamestown 3

DUNKIRK - The Dunkirk Lady Marauders (9-5) clinched third in CCAA Division 1 with a 5-3 victory over the Jamestown Lady Red Raiders (6-8) Tuesday in high school softball action.

Down 3-2 heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning, Dunkirk rallied for a trio of runs. Katie Hanlon started the inning with a single while Kelsey Drummond reached on a misplayed bunt and moved Hanlon to third in the process. Khee Nance cleared the bases with a two-out RBI triple and Lacey Clark added an RBI sacrifice fly for a 5-3 lead.

"Our bats did wake up today," Dunkirk coach John Sliwa said. "(Nicole) Balzer kind of helped us in the third inning. She had a lead-off double and kind of sparked everybody a bit. After that, we got two hits in the fourth, two hits in the fifth and the three big hits in the sixth."

Jamestown reached the scoring column in the first after Jessica Pace knocked an RBI double.

The Lady Red Raiders added another run as Dunkirk starter Aimee Kaufman hit Hannah Pollino with a pitch and McKenzie Martin brought her home with a single.

The Lady Marauders answered back to tie the game at 2-all in the fourth. Hanlon hit a one-out double and scored on a Drummond single. Nance reached base on a force out, stole second and eventually crossed home plate after an errant throw by the Jamestown catcher.

Jamestown grabbed the lead back in the fifth as Kaleisha Mosley scored after a double was misplayed by the Dunkirk defense.

Kaufman went the distance on the mound and allowed one earned run on five hits. With no strikeouts or walks, Dunkirk provided her with plenty of fielding help.

"Good job defensively, even if we had two errors," Sliwa said. "We really picked it up. Drummond had a couple spectacular plays at first base, Nance had a couple nice plays from shortstop. The type of pitcher Aimee is, there's going to be a lot of ground-ball outs. Our defense has to play good defense because Aimee's not a power pitcher. She's a finesse pitcher."

Hanlon led the Dunkirk bats with a double and a single while Drummond added two singles in a winning effort.

Martin earned the loss in the circle for Jamestown as she allowed five runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked one.

Tuesday marked the season finale for the Lady Marauders in Division 1 play. All five of Dunkirk's league losses this season came on the road in one-run games.

"We could have easily been 14-0 overall," Sliwa said.

Before playoff seedings are announced on Thursday, Dunkirk will wrap up the 2013 regular season at Immaculata Academy today.

"The weather doesn't look great (today) but we want to get our young pitchers some more work and try to get our lineup settled here," Sliwa said.

CCAA?Division 3

Forestville 9, CLCS 7

MAYVILLE - Ryanne Dugan's 41-inning scoreless streak came to an end Tuesday, but the Forestville Lady Hornets (10-1) held on for a 9-7 win over the Chautauqua Lake Lady Thunderbirds (6-5) during CCAA Division 3 softball action.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Chautauqua Lake's Courtney Hewes reached on a fielder's choice. Hannah Rauh pushed Hewes to third with two outs, before Jade Walsh lined a ball to shortstop that could not be handled. A wild pitch scored Hewes and chased Rauh and Walsh to third and second base, respectively. Dugan was able to bear down, however, and retired Luci Sena on a fly ball to Alisha Szumigala in center field.

Dugan's scoreless innings streak came to an end in the bottom of the first as Jessica Herrington singled, stole second and scored on an RBI double by Ashley Moulton.

Chautauqua Lake used a four-run third inning to take a 6-5 lead, but Forestville plated three runs in the top of the fourth and one more in the fifth to take a 9-5 lead.

Lizzy Gilman finished with two hits and four RBIs in the win while teammates Ashley Vanbuskink and Lydia Bruger finished with two hits each.

Lauren Cummings suffered the loss in the circle after she allowed nine runs on 11 hits while striking out three and walking seven. Rauh had a pair of hits and an RBI to pace the Lady Thunderbirds' offense.

Chautauqua Lake hosts Panama today while Forestville will take on Pine Valley in South Dayton.

Maple Grove 17, Pine Valley 3

SOUTH DAYTON - Mackenzie Ellis went the distance and Maple Grove (6-4) scored in every inning except the top of the third, as the Lady Red Dragons handed Pine Valley (4-7) a 17-3 loss during CCAA Division 3 softball action Tuesday.

Ellis allowed the Lady Panthers three runs on 12 hits, struck out five and walked five. The Lady Red Dragons were led at the plate by Jordan Ahlstrom's four hits, which included a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Lauren Nickerson chipped in a trio of singles and an RBI in the win while Brianne Davis (two doubles) had four hits and an RBI.

For the Lady Panthers, Ashley Carpenter, Aleah Fancher (double, RBI) and Cassandra Tingue (RBI) all had two hits. Alex Bentham suffered the loss as she allowed 17 runs on 22 hits. She struck out 5 and walked as many.